K 75 I'm getting ready to start riding again after a 30-year hiatus. When I took the MSF intro. course (to make sure I wasn't too old :-)) I rode a couple of the small cruisers, which is what I thought I wanted. Didn't like them, so I started looking for a used bike that would give me a more traditional riding stance. Have been impressed with the K75s. Would appreciate your opinions as to the suitability for someone returning to riding after a long hiatus.

I will premise this by saying I have not taken a hiatus from riding for any longer than 18 months. So 30 years ~ WOW!
My recollections after not riding for a while and getting ready for that first ride afterwards, are that balance and protection from injury in case of an accident were at the forefront of my thoughts.
Well, the BMW K75s is a very well-balanced bike. Having owned one for ten years, I will never not own at least one K bike, likely not the 100 either. The handling of the bike is far superior to other bikes I have ridden, albeit only rice burners and Harleys.
The K75sis a sporty looking machine, but also has great touring characteristics (who said you get only one or the other??). I would easily ride fully loaded from KC to Dallas (about 7.5 hours) stopping for little more than fuel and a strech.
I guess I am a pretty big fan of the BMWs, and the K75S in particular.

Tell us some more! Your answer needs to include more details to help people.You can't post answers that contain an email address.Please enter a valid email address.The email address entered is already associated to an account.Login to postPlease use English characters only.

I toook the msf course last august. My only reasons were that i was tired of riding on the bike of bikes with guys and decided to flex my independence. i however dropped the bike in the msf course but i still passed and got my endorsement. i bought a ninja 250 and rode it under various conditions here in NYC. (just use your imagination). i didnt get a lot of mileage in but i learned some valualbe lesson, so, i was going to keep the 250 and the sv but i got an offer for the 250 and i am going to sell it. i like the smaller cc bike because it is easy to handle and forgiving yet it is still a motorcycle. the sv650 is that venture into a more serious bike and if you are not heavy handed on the throttle and can handle the shifting the bike should be fun and a learning experience. the main reason i bought is the comfort for longer rides and touring. the 250 just wasnt made for that. i am planning to do more rides to vermont, new england and the delaware/maryland area. i know the torque and horsepower are totally different from the 250 but i can appreciate the difference. it also have benefited from chatting in the forums. i almost bought a zzr but realized i was way out of my league! OK...I think I made a point :thumbsup:

figure I'll throw in my 2cents from my own experience. I picked up the SV650 as my first bike last year. I had not been on a bike thats not pedal powered before, however I used to live on my bicycle, did lengthy tours on it, commute on it, modded it, did all the work on it myself. My point being I knew I loved the feeling of being on two wheels, riding. And I was very experienced with being a bike in traffic. so that was going to be a non-issue. I picked up a book called "How to Ride a Motorcycle" by Pat Hahn. In there he says In the authors opinion Suzuki can claim to offer the best all around beginner bike in the SV650. Light, nimble, quick, adaptable, fun, and cheap, its easy to ride - which means you'll learn very quickly - yet versatile enough to keep you entertained for a while. Great I thought, but he also stressed the importance of the MSF beginners course. So I got myself into a class and practiced in my apartment complex on my sv while I waited. When I took the class I was amazed at how much I learned so quickly on the nighthawk 250. I left feeling very confident having received a perfect score on my test (in fact the instructor said that if all his students had my kind of background on bicycles he'd have a class full of perfect scores, pretty cool I thought) After that riding the SV became easier and my learning has continued full boar.

The point of this rambling is that the SV was an acceptable beginners bike for me and apparently for many. But if I was forced to spend a year on the nighthawk 250, I'd surely learn more faster.

You did our ride a disservice letting gas sit in the carb for over one year. My guess is your carb is all gummed up with old gas (called varnish in some circles). You may be able to get it clean using carb cleaner available from the auto parts place. Don't spill any on the paint - it will eat your paint!!! Still, give it a try. If that doesn't work, you may have to remove the carbs and rebuild or replace with new rebuilt.

Of course, you could take your ride to the Yamaha shop and have this problem solved in short order by the professional who are familiar with this problem and the remede.

In the future, after you get this fixed, if you intend to not ride for an extended period of time, do the following? Fill the fuel tank. Add a fuel stabilizer recommended by the manufacturer. Go for a ride. When you are about 1/10 mile from home, turn the fuel supply valve OFF. When you arrive home, allow the bike to run till it stops. Park your ride in a dark, dry place. Disconnect the battery and after it is cool, clean everything and apply wax to the finish and cover it up. When you want to ride next time, you will find it will be ready to go after you connect the battery and turn on the fuel. If it is a year, you may want to put a little charge in the battery, or if it is more than 3 years old, just replace it.

I hope you find these remarks helpful. Thank you for your interest in FixYa.com

I will premise this by saying I have not taken a hiatus from riding for any longer than 18 months. So 30 years ~ WOW!
My recollections after not riding for a while and getting ready for that first ride afterwards, are that balance and protection from injury in case of an accident were at the forefront of my thoughts.
Well, the BMW K75s is a very well-balanced bike. Having owned one for ten years, I will never not own at least one K bike, likely not the 100 either. The handling of the bike is far superior to other bikes I have ridden, albeit only rice burners and Harleys.
The K75sis a sporty looking machine, but also has great touring characteristics (who said you get only one or the other??). I would easily ride fully loaded from KC to Dallas (about 7.5 hours) stopping for little more than fuel and a strech.
I guess I am a pretty big fan of the BMWs, and the K75S in particular.

I will premise this by saying I have not taken a hiatus from riding for any longer than 18 months. So 30 years ~ WOW!
My recollections after not riding for a while and getting ready for that first ride afterwards, are that balance and protection from injury in case of an accident were at the forefront of my thoughts.
Well, the BMW K75s is a very well-balanced bike. Having owned one for ten years, I will never not own at least one K bike, likely not the 100 either. The handling of the bike is far superior to other bikes I have ridden, albeit only rice burners and Harleys.
The K75sis a sporty looking machine, but also has great touring characteristics (who said you get only one or the other??). I would easily ride fully loaded from KC to Dallas (about 7.5 hours) stopping for little more than fuel and a strech.
I guess I am a pretty big fan of the BMWs, and the K75S in particular.